Dear Parents/Guardians, 

I hope that you and your families are keeping well during this very difficult time. None of us have ever experienced anything like it before and it has presented many challenges for us all.  

I have no doubt that Covid-19 has put huge pressure on families, who are trying to manage child care, work, care of elderly relatives and in some cases the loss of employment. However, I know that in the midst of this, many of you could readily testify to unexpected acts kindness from friends, neighbours and indeed strangers, all of which renew our faith in humanity and remind us of the resilience and resources that we all have within us. There is an old Irish proverb, ‘Níl in aon rud as seal’, which means  ‘Nothing lasts forever’. This spell too will eventually pass and hopefully we will all emerge safely from it and be the stronger for it. 

Many of you, our parents, are currently working directly in frontline services, trying to address Covid– 19. Several of you are in the healthcare sector, while others are in various service industries and are working long hours and extra shifts to keep supplies running smoothly. Our thoughts are with you all at this challenging time and we are indebted to you, for the work that you are doing, on behalf of us all. Míle buíochas libh go léir.  

The staff of Scoil Bhríde Cailíní will continue to engage with you all, to ensure that your daughter has work to support her on-going learning. However, it is important for us all to remember, that some of the greatest learning experiences are life experiences, which occur outside the classroom. These experiences are the real university of life and in many ways shape who we become. So let us try and flip the coin and view this difficult time, in which we find ourselves, as an opportunity to reconnect with simple pastimes and skills, often overlooked in the pace of our hectic, modern lives. Maybe it will be an opportunity to do some gardening with your daughter, to learn how to sew a button or identify a garden bird. Maybe it will be an opportunity to watch an old movie or point out a constellation in the night sky. This time presents us all with an opportunity to slow down and reconnect with ourselves and our families. Sometimes the best lessons learned by our children are when we think they are not looking at all. Your daughter may already have witnessed you running an errand for an elderly relative or neighbour and quietly learned the real value of kindness. She may have witnessed you queuing patiently in line for groceries and learned the real importance of courtesy and respect. Or maybe she saw you trying to work from home whilst also juggling childcare and learned the real value of dedication and commitment. These are valuable lessons and once learned, will never, ever be forgotten. 

I am conscious that we, the staff, have already sent out a considerable amount of work for all classes. I’d ask you to use your own discretion with this work and to tailor it to your own daughter’s needs.  For the next period coming up to Easter, we would like to switch the focus to a more creative activity. The girls would normally create Easter bonnets at this time of year and so we would encourage you to experiment with this as a family activity at home. We would be delighted if you could then photograph your work and we will organise a display of these photos at a later point. 

On another note, you may have heard that RTÉ television are planning to broadcast lessons for primary school children very shortly. I am delighted to announce that one of our own teachers, Clíona Ní Chiosáin, will be part of the teaching team leading these lessons. So this will be a lovely opportunity for us all to tune in and watch one of our own. Go n-éirí leat a Chlíona! 

Finally, I look forward to seeing you all again very soon in the mornings and to hearing the cheery voices of all your little ladies, as they file in past me, wishing me a ‘Good Morning’ and brightening up yet another day.  

Till then, take care of yourselves, your families and your loved ones. Go dté sibh slán. 

Le meas, 

Paula Dargan